Posts from Projects

A tall open shelf in the kitchen is great for storing pantry essentials, but without a solid way to organize things, it can end up looking untidy and uninspiring. "The whole arrangement looked kind of sad," Katrin of the blog Taking Notes writes of her pantry shelf above. "But! There's nothing paint couldn't make better." See how she transformed this shelf into a beautiful and super organized pantry setup:

Last week I decided this was the month I was finally going to hang my pots and pans on the wall. My first step was to find an easy-to-install weight-bearing wall system for the seven pans I plan to clear out of the cupboard. Here's what I decided on:

When we demolished a rotting deck off of the rear of our home two years ago, there were two cedar beams used as railings. Even then, we knew we wanted to use the 4x8x12-foot-long beams to build a raised bed planter, so we stored them away and saved them for a season when we had time to finally get around to planting a garden: This is the year!

I've decided to kick my $20 a jar Luxardo cherry habit (hey it's still cheaper than ordering my Manhattans at a bar! Right?) by making a batch of luxurious homemade cocktail cherries. By week 2 of my project I had procured frozen sour cherries and a bottle of Maraschino liqueur. What was next?

Here's what I did and how I think I may have already screwed it up. Want to reassure me?

Kitchn reader Catherine called this space in her kitchen a "black hole of a kitchen cupboard" and basically unusable as configured. Not content to let all that space go to waste, she turned it into an airy nook for her washing machine and extra kitchen appliances. See what it looks like now!

The angle: You don't need to own a farm — or even have a back yard! — to raise bees.

Recipes for right now: [While this book is mostly a how-to guide to beekeeping, they do include a few honey recipes!] Best-Ever Honey and Olive Oil Granola with Sea Salt, Milk and Honey Oat Bread, Honey and Soy-Glazed Duck Breast, Clove and Honey Orange Marmalade, Healing Honey Salve

Who would enjoy this book? Urban homesteaders with dreams of honey bees.

I grew up in a family with a huge garden, which might have something to do with why I haven't gardened on my own until now. I'm so excited to get back to it, though, with this small kitchen garden of only 4x7-ish feet. The garden will be steps from the back kitchen door and near a small herb bed I started last year with chives, tarragon, sage, thyme and mint. Here's the plan.

Ah yes, the love-hate relationship most everyone I know has with kombucha tea: while I love the taste of it and how it makes me feel, it's more of an indulgence at the grocery store than something I have on a regular basis due to its price. But I want that to change!

I'm making kombucha at home for my spring project. Have you tried making it before?